Showdown at Coral City
by Falconess
Summary: Episode 2 of the Passing the Torch Series - In this episode, our heroes are joined by another friend and have to help keep Coral City safe from the wiles of NEO Team Rocket as Krystal tries to get a badge
1. Good Morning, JA-CEN!

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Author's note: some psychic pokémon communicate through telepathy and the "*" show when telepathic messages are being sent instead of quotation marks.  
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PASSING THE TORCH  
  
Episode 2 : SHOWDOWN AT CORAL CITY  
  
Written by: Sheila Coe and Joanie Rich  
  
  
Chapter 1: Good Morning JA-CEN  
  
"Where are we going now, Krystal?" Jacen asked as he packed up his camping gear. A slightly sheltered child, Jacen was getting sick of "camping out" all the time. His back ACHED for a soft, feather bed - or for any bed for that matter. But, as awful as he felt, he didn't complain. Krystal was completely at home in the wilderness, and it was beyond Jacen to let a girl know that she was tougher in the rough than he was.  
  
He tried so hard to figure out what made Krystal tick. Pokémon was the most obvious answer he could find. Krystal's fahter, Ash Ketchum was the leading expert on Pokémon, and the owner of the world-famous Pallet Town Pokémon Reserve, and a huge "Poké-maniac". He even competed in the old Indigo League Games, but was knocked out in the fifth round. Krystal decided that she was going to win THAT title for the Ketchum name. She had her mind set on it, with her father's unstoppable determination. Only now something had stopped Ash...  
  
Jacen paused in his work to glimpse over Krystal. She sure was taking her own sweet time. The sun had just barely begun to peek over the horizon, turning the once star-speckled sky a shade of red that was the exact color as Jacen's shoulder-length hair. Krystal, although absorbed in her quest, knew when it was time to pause to take in a beautiful sunrise. That was a quality that set her apart from her father.   
  
Krystal sat on her still open sleeping bag, slowly brushing her long, jet-black hair. Buddy, her claustrophobic Bulbasaur mascot, was curled up at her feet, snoring softly. She paid no attention. In fact, she seemed to be a million miles away, in another dimension. "How about we go to *uhh-haaaaaa* Coral City. I hear it's aaaahh beautiful plaaaace," she sluggishly suggested.   
  
"I've never heard of it," Jacen commented flatly. He was already packed and she had barely started.  
  
"It's a new city built inside a coral reef in such a way that it doesn't hurt the enivornment," Krystal almost mechanically, "There's a water-trainer named Dosa who runs the local gym. She's no older than you are, but I hear that she could kick your butt big time."  
  
Jacen had finally run out of patience with his camping companion. He snatched the brush out of her hand, plopped down behind her, and proceeded to brush her hair into pigtails. Hey, if he didn't, no one would, and he hated the thought of being outside for another hour. "I am a fire-trainer. She is a water-trainer. Water-type pokémon have a NATURAL advantage over fire-type pokémon. Even if her pokémon are at a lower level than Arfie, my arcanine, they will probably still beat him. You of all people should know that Little-Miss-My-Daddy's-THE-Leading-Expert-On-POKéMON!"  
  
The sun was mostly over the horizon at the time. The golden sky had swallowed the night's stars whole. A bird chirped out a sweet melody that served as a wake-up call for Krystal. Slowly, she drifted back from her "dream land" to the land of the living. "Are you upset about something, Jacen?" she asked.  
  
Jacen sighed. "No, not really." He finished putting up her hair and finished the look by shoving on her worn-in Pokémon League hat. That hat was her most prized possession because her father had worn it on his pokémon journey. "Say, do you think you can actually beat this Dosa?"  
  
Krystal turned around and looked at him with a hurt expression. "Of course I can. I'm a "water-child". My mother and all three of my aunts are excellent water-trainers. I know how to handle them, thank you very much! Besides, I have Buddy! Together, we'll kick her Poké-behind!!!" she stood up and did a stupid pose. Buddy rolled off the sleeping bag, but was sleeping like a rock. A very heavy rock.  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself if I were you," Jacen said skeptically, "You don't even know what pokémon she has."  
  
Krystal grimaced, "Sure I do, Dexter3000 told me."  
  
"Dexter3000?"  
  
"Yeah!" Krystal flashed her Pokédex out of her jacket pocket and flipped it on. It looked exactly like his, expect hers was metallic red and had numerous buttons; too many to count.   
  
"Dexter, Tell me what pokémon the Coral City gym leader has," she instructed it.  
  
There was a two-second pause as Dexter analyzed the information. It began to speak, "Dosa, the Coral City gym leader uses two pokemon: Wartortle and Starmie."  
  
Krystal snapped it shut, and stuffed it back into her pocket.   
  
"My pokédex doesn't do all that..." Jacen complained. It was an ancient hand-me-down from his BELOVED twin-sister, Jannie. All it did was identify the pokémon, and it didn't even do that very well. Once it had said that Arfie was a Nidoking.  
  
"Of course it doesn't, Jacen! This is a new 'experimental' model. There are still a few bugs left to it. Every time I use it... it's voice gets... higher, and eventually, - I won't be able to hear it all!" she threw up her hands violently, "At all!" Krystal explained.  
  
"O-kay..." Jacen said, "Do you have a strategy for beating this gym leader?"  
  
Krystal stood up and slung her purple backpack over her shoulders, "I don't need a strategy. I've got Buddy, don't I? That's all I need," she nudged Buddy gently with her foot to waken him from his rock-like sleep.  
  
"Bulbasaur, saur..." he mumbled and opened an eye.  
  
"Get up, Sleepyhead! Daylight's a burnin'," she told him.  
  
"Saur-saur. Bulbasaur." He pulled himself up to a standing position, which wasn't hard since bulbasaurs are so low to the ground.  
  
"Finally! Let's go!" he stomped off, glad to be going somewhere at last.  
  
Krystal hurriedly grabbed all of her stuff and jammed it into her small backpack. How she fit it all in, we probably will never know. She flung it back on and dashed off to keep up with Jacen, suddenly full of endless energy.   
  
  
Jared pulled the binoculars back from his eyes and turned to Jannie, his girlfriend, "Ah, so they are going to Coral City...I have always wanted to visit there."  
  
Jannie rubbed her eyes. Her mouth had been hanging wide open from a yawn, but she never quite got it closed again. She yawned again, "Why is that Jared?" her tiredness bugged Jared.  
  
"That place is so environmentally sound...it makes ME SICK! Very sick...Hey! I've got an idea," it looked like an evil plan was unfolding in his brain.  
  
Jannie nodded and began to nod off. Her head bobbed and bobbed like a dipping bird, sharply rising up and slowly drooping down again. Jared took no notice of this strange behavior, and was so immensed in thinking about his plan that he was talking aloud to himself.  
  
"We could try to convince the gym leader, Dosa, to join NEO Team Rocket...and if she refused-" he glanced towards Sandy, Jannie's sandshrew who was staring at him though her cute little toy binoculars that Jannie had bought for her because "they looked so cute".  
  
"Why are you staring at me???" Sandy continued to look in silence; he raged, "WHy? What did I do to you??? I'm not your trainer... SHE IS!!" he pointed to the now drooling Jannie, "STARE AT HER YOU WEIRDO!!!"  
  
"Shrew! Sand, SHREW!" Sandy explained.  
  
"Oh...okay. That's understandable. Well, if she DID refuse, which she won't, of course," he smiled at Sandy, "Because 'NEO' Team Rocket is invinceable! Who could resist that?"  
  
"Shrew?"  
  
"Right. But if she did refuse, then why...We'd just BLOW THE PLACE SKY HIGH! MWAH-HA, HA, HA, HA-HA-HA-AH, HA, HA, Ha, Ha-ha-ha, ha...yeah... perfect." Jannie still slumbered like a lumpy muk, and this angered him. So he reached for her binoculars and pulled back far so it almost choked her and then slammed them at her nose.  
  
"OOOOH! My nose! Jared, you creep! You ruined perfection, AGAIN!" she screeched like a whining Victreebel.  
  
"Come on, time to go," Jared ordered sliding down the hill they were on and walking towards Coral City.  
  
"Wait!" she squealed, "Where? HUH? You NEVER tell me ANYTHING!!!" she cried and tripped over Sandy, and rolled down the hill, "Sandy, 'on't yust stand hair like a bump ood odd frog, ppppbtt!" she said spiting out grass, "HELP ME!!"  
  
  
END of Chapter 1 


	2. Krystal Catches a Pokémon

Chapter 2: Krystal Catches a Pokémon!  
  
The sun had rose to it's midpoint in the sky, signifying Krystal's favorite time of the day, LUNCH! (Altough anytime she had food was her favorite time of the day.) "Jacen, It's time for lunch now! Let's stop and eat! I'm as hungry as a SNORLAX!"  
  
Jacen cringed at the thought, "Then why don't we stop..." he looked around, "right over there," he pointed to a small stream that ran along the side of the beaten path they had been treading all day. The spot he pointed to had a large shade tree beside it, providing protection from the afternoon sun. The stream was bright and clear, showing all the smooth rocks at the bottom.  
  
"OHHH! Okay! Come on Buddy, TIME TO EAT!!!!" she scrambled over to the spot, almost falling every few steps. She set down her pack and rummaged through it, putting together a nice meal.  
  
"Come on slowpoke!" she called to Jacen, who took his time and finally fell down under the tree.  
  
"So, how much farther is it to Coral City already???" he was exhausted.  
  
"Four more hours, if we eat quickly that is!!!" she began to shovel a sandwich and chips into her mouth all at once. Buddy dug in on a plate of crispy Bulba-Kibble!  
  
"Bulba!!!" he called happily between bites.  
  
After a few minutes of fast consumption, they were done, while Jacen was still snacking on some fresh veggies. He liked the carrots especially.   
  
Suddenly the bushes across the stream rustled. Buddy's ears twitched and he turned to see them move furiously. He leaned towards Krystal and whispered loudly, "Bulba!"  
  
"What is it, Buddy?" she asked as he bounded softly towards the edge of the stream, looking towards the other side. She followed him and saw what he was looking at, the bushes.  
  
"I bet it's a WILD pokémon!! And I'm going to catch it," she said implusively. She reached to her belt and pulled out a pokeball. She reared and threw it over the stream, "GO! BABY!"  
  
Buddy toppled over in digust. He slowly inched over toward the tree and rubbed his head on it, "Bul....ba-ba-ba-ba!"  
  
Baby, the cutesy snubbull, popped out onto the ground and snuck toward the bushes. She pushed aside the bushes with her paws, and a jigglypuff flew out and knocked her over. The jigglypuff landed behind her.  
  
"OHHH, a Jiggly-puff-PUFF! Cool! Yes!!! I just love ze vittle Jiggly-PUFF!" Krystal cooed, while Jacen stared on in awe, not only was it a jigglypuff, but it was a strange shade of...purple? No, couldn't be, Jacen thought, Jigglypuffs were pink, not...purple.  
  
Baby shook off the surprise attack and turned to face the enemy. Kystal called out, "TACKLE, NOW!"   
  
Baby ran towards the Jigglypuff at full speed, and banged into it. Baby thought she got it good, but then the Jigglypuff's eyes glowed eeriely blue and Baby was thrown into the branches of the shade tree.   
  
"SNNNNNUUUUU-B-B-Bull!!!" she yelped as she struck the tree and became lodged between two branches. A bunch of leaves fell on Buddy who banged his head on the tree.  
  
Krystal and Jacen stood with their mouth's gaping open like a lazy slowbro. She quickly looked towards Buddy and Baby, and realized she didn't have a chance.  
  
Buddy plucked Baby out of the tree, with his vine whips, and he plopped back down on the ground again.   
  
Suddenly the Jigglypuff froze with fear. Krystal turned quickly to see Arfie, Jacen's awesome arcanine standing growling menacing behind him.  
  
He waved a hand in front of her, "HELLO!! Throw the pokéball, before it runs away!"  
  
"Oh! Oh yeah!" she scrambled to find one but came up emptyhanded. She began to wimper. Jacen, seeing the problem, reached into his left knee pocket, pulling a new one out and tossed it to her. She caught it and looked at it blankly, "Huh?"  
  
"Call it a gift."  
  
"Cool! Okay, Pokéball, GO!!!" she threw it with all her might and it hit the Jigglypuff right on, and a bright beam of red light surrounded it and it opened wide, sucking the energy in. It snapped and fell to the ground. All eyes watched as it quivered back and forth, the red light still on. Finally it lurched, rolled and it stopped. The light turned off and it shutdown. The pokémon was officially caught! Krystal stood for a minute, wondering how she had done it. She caught a pokémon! Her pokémon! A normal type... her type! The excitement built up and she released it at once leaping high into the air in a joyful kick.  
  
"YAHHOOOOO!! Come on Jacen, let's dance!" they did a fancy jitterbug and even Buddy and Baby pranced about! Arfie looked on in a bit of confusion. As quickly as it started, it stopped, and she leaped over the stream and retrieved the pokéball! "OOOH! Come on out, Jigglypuff, meet everybody!"  
  
An echoing voice that came from no where in particular called out, *Not until you get rid of the B-big, M-mean, nasty doggie!!!* Everyone looked about, until Krystal looked at the pokéball, "Is that you, Jigglypuff?" she asked, a bit frightened.  
  
*YES! Please get rid of him, I can't stand it!!!* it screamed.  
  
"Jacen, could you..." she turned to see him growling louder than Arfie had.  
  
"BIG, HUH! MEAN!! NASTY??!!! I'll show you-" he growled.  
  
"Oh, Jacen, please!" she pleaded with big puppy eyes.  
  
"Fine. Just Fine...." he pulled out Arfie's pokéball and called, "Afrie, RETURN!" the beam retrieved Arfie and stored him in the pokéball. He put it back on his knee pocket, "Happy?"  
  
*VERY!* the jigglypuff cried, and the pokeball opened and it puffed out!   
  
"How do you talk like that, Jigglypuff?"  
  
*I don't know, but I'm not like any of the other jigglypuffs. They call me strange...*  
  
"I don't think you are!"  
  
Jacen opened his mouth, and mumbled silently.  
  
"Jacen!!! You're so rude!!! UH! I'm sorry Jigglypuff, he's nice, but not right now..."  
  
"BIG AND MEAN HUH!!! Well, hmph!!!" He walked over to the other side of the tree and slid down to the ground.  
  
"What's your name?"  
  
*ummmm... Jigglypuff?*  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"No, I'm Krystal. That's Buddy and Baby, and the mean-head behind the tree is Jacen and the 'doggie' is Arfie."  
  
*oh...ummm... I don't know...*  
  
Buddy quickly had a brainstorm and scooted over to the Jigglypuff. He whispered somthing in her little purple ear. She perked up happily.  
  
*Thanks Buddy! How about... BROOKE!*  
  
"Perfect! Welcome to the troop Brooke! We're going to Coral City, where I'm going to get the Coralreefbadge!"  
  
*Hey, I know a shortcut to there from here!*  
  
"JACEN!!! We're leaving now! Brooke knows a shortcut!" Kystal called to him as she leaped for joy.  
  
"Who's Brooke?" he called, getting up, feeling a lot better now that he let off some stream.  
  
Krystal laughed and picked up her stuff. She and Brooke ran off with Buddy and Baby close behind, "Tell you on the way, Come on!"  
  
Jacen sighed and joined them.  
  
  
END of Chapter 2 


	3. Time for Some R & R, But Not for Long!

Chapter 3: Time for some R & R, but not for Long!   
  
"YES!!!" Jacen cried, bursting into the hotel room, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" he sounded like a train, flinging his stuff onto the soft bed and practically swandiving and smothering himself in the rose-patterned comforter. Then he stood up, "DIBS ON THE SHOWER!!" he yelled, louder than needed. He zipped in there and slammed the door, but then he poked his head out, "Don't expect me out for a LONG TIME!"  
  
"Sure, take all the time you want!" Krystal called as Buddy curled up on the other bed for a short nap. She swung her pack onto the desk and sat on the chair. She pulled out the hoverphone from it's hook on the wall and let it float, "These things are AWESOME!" she cried as she dialed in her home number in the numberpad. The screen turned on and said: "Ringing, please hold..."  
  
"Daddy, where are you?" she sighed leaning back in the chair.  
  
The screen lit up and the picture focused on Ash in his house. Behind him sat his long-time friend, Richie, the Mayor of Pallet Town, drinking some warm coffee in a lounge chair. He father was very pleased to see her.  
  
"Hi honey, how's your journey going?" Ash asked, very eager to hear the results.  
  
"Great, guess what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I caught my first pokémon!!!"  
  
"Wow! That's wonderful! Hey, I remember when I caught my first pokemon, Caterpie!" he smiled and then broke into laughter, "Oh, Krystal you should have seen your mother's face when I let it out!!! AHAHAHAHA!" he chuckled wildly, "Scared of a little thing like-"  
  
"Daddy! You're getting carried away!"  
  
"Oh! Sorry dear, haha! It's a habit of mine, that your mother has been trying to help me break!" Suddenly He thought of something, "Did you hear that Richie is going to run for President of Kanto?"  
  
"Cool!" she smiled as Richie tipped his hat to her, "Congratulations! Good Luck!"  
  
"Thanks! And good luck on your journey! Don't forget to have some fun along the way, and make all the friends you can!"  
  
"I will! You can count on me and Buddy! We're going to the top!"   
  
Ash took off his glasses and dabbed his eyes, "My little girl is growing up so fast! Just like her daddy! I'll see you later, Honey! Keep in touch!"  
  
"I love you, Daddy, BYE-BYE!"  
  
"Me too, Bye!" he sniffed a bit.  
  
The phone disconnected and she hung it back on it's hook. She turned and looked at Buddy who was still silently stationed on the bed, "I sure hope we do good..."  
  
Three hours later, Jacen wobbled out of the bathroom, dressed in his baggy night clothes, complete with vulpix fuzzy slippers. He once again flopped face-down on the bed, and mumbled, "Your turn," and sighed with a deep pleasure.  
  
"Thanks. Nice shower?"  
  
"No. Bath. Bubble-bath! Nice and Warm!! Toasty!"  
  
"Okay. Why don't you call your parents? I called my dad and he appreciated it!"  
  
He sighed again, "That was great...Oh...might as well, just hope Jannie isn't home yet!"  
  
"See you in a bit!" she said as she sprinted into the bathroom.  
  
Jacen, after a minute of shuffling around, he heaved himself off the bed and hobbled over to the hoverphone. He almost yanked it off, till he figured out how to take it off properly. He then stumbling, dialed what he thought was his number, hoping he didn't get some stranger staring at his pjs. He hated picture-phones.  
  
The screen flashed on quickly with no delay, and there was a giant mouth taking up most of the screen. Jacen jumped back and fell out of his chair. He peered up at it, "Uh, hello is this McScanty residence?"  
  
A voice boomed over the sound speaker, "DARLING, Back up from the screen, the person can probably only see your fillings!"  
  
"Ohhh! Sorry pumpkin! Backing up..." the figure scooted back till the phone could focus on the face, it was his father!  
  
"Ohh! Jesse, Dear, Jacen is on the phone!" he squealed with excitement.  
  
"That's nice, James," the first voice called from off-screen.  
  
"So son, how many do you have? How is Arfie? How is Jannie? Huh?"  
  
"Uh... how many what? He's fine, I guess, and Jannie is lost."  
  
"Pokémon of course, you must have a dozen!"  
  
"Well, not yet-"  
  
"Oh, did you know your mother has picked up a new hobby," he interrupted for no particular reason. There was a engine sputtering and then the blaring roar of a chainsaw. Jacen fell out of his chair again and peered up at the screen, afraid to look. His father swung the phone around so Jacen could see what his mother was doing.  
  
The chainsaw was cutting almost perfectly into a 10ft chunk of ice. She had googles on and stopped to wave into the camera. She turned it off for a second and said, "Look dear, we finally got Pikachu!" She had created an exact likeness of a happy little... really big pikachu.  
  
Jacen was stunned, "Gee mom, that's really nice!"  
  
"Thanks son, I knew you'd like it, you have mummy's taste, kiss-kiss!!"  
  
"See you later son," his father added, "and remember to get lots of badges and pokemon for us!!! We're counting on you! -No pressure!- Make us proud! Bye!"  
  
"Bye Dad," Jacen smiled uneasily, feeling bummed out. He knew he wasn't going to get badges, OR pokemon, he just didn't know how to tell THEM that without hurting their feelings. It was like all their dreams were in him. He didn't want let them down.  
  
Just as Jacen hung up the phone on the wall, Krystal popped out, completely done.  
  
"Already?" he asked.  
  
"Yep! When's dinner!"  
  
"I'm going to bed now, thank you. Normally people go to bed. You should try it!"  
  
"Not when all those teenagers are out having fun! You are a teenager, aren't you?"  
  
"Techinically I am a 'preteen'," he replied falling into the bed and crawling under the covers, "Well, if you're going out, turn out the lights..." he closed his eyes, ready for sleep.  
  
"Don't you give me that, Jacen!" she cried, "We're going to have fun tonite! Now get up!" she pulled his foot and tried to yank him out of bed.  
  
"Alright. Now that I'm up... I guess we could go somewhere... or something..."  
  
"Not in those slippers Bucko!" she laughed, "But we can fix that!"  
  
  
END of Chapter 3 


	4. Enter Bram

Chapter 4: Enter Bram  
  
As usual Krystal had managed to locate a restaurant within a few minutes of leaving the hotel. Once the sweet scent of warm food made it's way past, there was no stopping her.  
  
"Look! I think I smell DINNER!" she cried, dragging Jacen along by his arm with one hand and pointing to a small diner with her other hand.  
  
"Joy. Dinner," his eyes rolled, as Buddy rushed to catch up with them.  
  
The diner was fairly large with a neon sign that read: "The Coral Diner - Our food is nice and CRUNCHY!" She approached the door and without looking, barged in and smacked into an outgoing customer.  
  
"Hey!" she cried, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it I-"  
  
"No, I'm sorry, my dear lady," the young man replied, "I probably wasn't being care--Oh it's you Krystal!"  
  
"BRAM!!!" she gave him a bear hug and began to ramble, "Oh! Jacen this is one of my bestest best friends in the whole world! He's great, he's nice, and I've known him for all of my life, my daddy knew his daddy, you know Brock!! He runs the World Famous Pokemon Breeding Center and Bram, he's even older than you are, he's 13 and not only that but he-"  
  
"Whoa, hold on," Bram stopped her from rambling.  
  
"Sorry! Bram, this is Jacen. Jacen, this is Bram," she introduced them to each other and they shook hands.  
  
"Nice to meet you Jacen," Bram replied politely. One of the first things Jacen noticed was his extreme politeness. This guy was so polite, he made Krystal seem rude! He was semi-tall and was a bit pale in color, but his purple hair and friendly eyes made up for it. He wore baggy, black pants and shirt, with a red belt and with a purple velvet-lined, black cape topping it all off. He gave off a sort of air as being well... nice! A definate lady's man, Jacen concluded.  
  
"Why don't you join you for a snack Bram!!!" she offered.  
  
"Sure, I'd love to! Thanks Krystal." he replied, "You don't mind, do you Jacen?" he inquired.  
  
"Um... yeah...I uh.. sure..." he said uneasily.  
  
"Time's a wastin' guys," Krystal called at the door, "Chow time!" she rushed in and found a table by the window and waved to them. They waved back. Bram moved between Jacen and the window.  
  
"You like Krystal a lot, don't you?"  
  
There was a large pause as Bram looked on.  
  
"Um, no. What makes you say that," he began to speak quieter than usual.  
  
Sensing his troubles, Bram lowered his voice too, "Trust me on this one, Jacen, I have experience," he turned to enter the diner and as he left, patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "I have a girlfriend."  
  
Jacen's gray clouds began to lighten up and he smiled a bit embarrassed on being confronted on it, but at the same time feeling relieved that he didn't have to compete with a great guy like Bram. He looked up at the dome above him. Coral City was a stunning underwater city and the moon shining high above the waters above their heads made a rippled effect over the curved dome, like a faceted jewel. Florescent fishes floated in and around it like streaming comets. For being under the water, things weren't that bad. Infact, Jacen actually had gotten used to it somewhat. He was surprised that neither he nor Krystal especially had noticed its beauty before.  
  
He turned to follow his new companion into the diner, and noticed something unusual happening in the center square. A pair of suspicious young people were bothering a girl with brilliant purple hair done up in a crazy hairdoo. Beside her sat a really annoyed wartortle. A sandshrew was dancing circles around it, making its eyes spin around dizzly. The young girl had short purple-blue hair, and the short talkative guy had on a really atrocious orange italian suit. Jacen knew these two all too well. This was the not-so-well-known NEO Team Rocket. Extreme Wannabees.  
  
He weaved his way through the crowd, trying not to attract attention to himself, although that wasn't that hard. Jacen never stood out in a crowd, and besides, NEO Team Rocket was attracting ALL the attention.  
  
He got up behind Jannie, (who had on a ruby-red dress that was way too old for her.)  
  
Jared was speaking:  
  
"I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't join, but I can think of plenty why you should."  
  
The girl, who he had identified as Dosa, the gym leader, was not convinced. "Are you threatening me, Little Man?"  
  
Jared made a face. He realized he was wasting his time. "Fine, then. But if something really NASTY happens to your beloved city, it will be all your fault!" This scared her a bit, but she was still standing her ground.  
  
Jacen decided this had gone far enough. "Hey," he called, "Isn't that Team Rocket!"  
  
A hundred heads turned to stare. Jannie recognized her brother. "OOOH! I'll get you for this, Little Brother, and your big dog too!!"   
  
Then NEO Team Rocket disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
  
"I'm your twin," he mumbled under his breath. Then, seeing the danger averted, he decided to return to the diner, before they realized he wasn't there.  
  
As he came in the door, he caught the tail-end of Krystal and Bram's conversation. "I mean Richie, for president! Isn't that amazing?"  
  
"Yeah, he's a very loyal member of the ISPCP," Bram noted.  
  
"What is that?" Jacen asked as he joined them in the booth by the window.  
  
"You don't know? Well, it's the International Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Pokémon, of course!"  
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
"Aren't you a member?" Krystal asked Bram.  
  
"Yes. My girlfriend, is the junior Vice President. It was started by her father, Tracey."  
  
"Oh! I've heard of him, the famous Pokémon Watcher!"  
  
"When he was younger, now he helps Pokémon!"  
  
"Anyway, what have you been doing lately, Bram? I didn't think you wanted to go on a pokémon journey." Krystal asked.  
  
"I don't, but think about this. Pallet Town has lots of places, the Breeding Center, Pokémon Center, the Pokémon Reserve, and great food! But what doesn't it have?"  
  
"A gym?"  
  
"Right! So that's what I'm trying to do. Open my own gym! But, in order to do that, I have to get signatures from 8 or so official gym leaders, saying that they battled me and they approve me as a new gym leader. It's a rough process. I just beat Dosa, and now I'm traveling on to the-"  
  
"Why don't you stay and watch me battle her tomorrow! Oh Please! Please!" she begged furiously.  
  
"I don't see why not. I've got all the time in the world!"  
  
"Great!" Krystal cheered.  
  
  
END of Chapter 4 


	5. Brooke's First Battle

Chapter 5: Brooke's First Battle  
  
Day finally came and after a hearty breakfast, Krystal, Jacen and Bram headed off towards the Coral City Gym towards the center of the underwater town. The sun shown through the crystal-clear dome making the coral-colored sidewalks shine in ripples like the bottom of a pool on a sunny day. Buddy trotted behind Krystal and the gang, staring at the light on the ground.   
  
They turned the corner and came face to face with a tall building. On the outside it wasn't different than any of the other buildings around it. It was a light aqua color and had many windows on the sides. The sign above the doors read: CORAL CITY GYM.  
  
"It doesn't look like anything special..." Krystal commented.  
  
"From the outside," Bram smiled, "Wait til you see the inside. That's what everyone talks about."  
  
"So, are you ready?" Jacen asked.  
  
"You bet!" she answered. She sprinted to the doors and gripped the handles more tightly than needed. She then threw her head back and smiled proudly, "But are YOU ready? HE-HE!"  
  
Before he could answer, she flung open the doors and then stood in awe, with her mouth hanging half-open. Jacen, Bram and Buddy followed her, and also looked on. The inside definately lived up to the expectations. The colors ranged in all the colors of the ocean, mostly in coral pinks and reds. There were 4 major pillars made entirely out of natural coral and the floor was smoothed pebble walkways that twisted in pathways all around.   
  
They walked down the major path further into the gym and the doors shut. They turned and saw two beautiful carvings of goldeens that seemed to leap out of the doors. At the sides of the gym stood two tall platforms. Each had a marble statue of a vaporeon that spouted water down a spiraling crystal chute. The clear water streamed into the main pool of the gym. It was Official Pokémon League Size and had two floating lily-pad-shaped platforms on which battling took place.   
  
After Krystal recovered from her shock, she wandered towards the edge of the pool. At the four corners of the pool lay statues of various water pokémon, including Cloyster, Seadra, Dewgong, and Wartortle. The Wartortle was the most impressive of the four.   
  
"I told you it was beautiful," whispered Bram.  
  
Krystal nodded and whispered back, "It's even prettier than one my aunts run in Cerulean," Suddenly she once again snapped back to reality and barked out, making everyone flinch, "DOSA, leader of this gym...I, Krystal Ketchum, declare a BATTLE!"   
  
"You don't have to yell," a voice came from behind them, "I'm right here!"  
  
They turned around and found Dosa. It surprised them to the point where they couldn't put two and two together to get four! Dosa stood a bit taller than them and waved sweetly with one hand, twirling her purple Gengar-colored hair which was done up in the back into two braids which looped and two smaller braids dangled down slightly over her shoulders. Her coral colored tanktop matched the colors of the gym and had a purple plaid skirt to go with it. Only someone like her could make such an interesting fashion statement and get away with it.  
  
She smiled, "Sorry I wasn't around. I just ran into these two..." she paused searching for the right word, "...weirdos, who were trying to convince me to join Neo Team Rocket or something like that. I had already met them yesterday too! They were dressed like rich people... the little boy had a nasty orange suit and the girl... well, I've heard of Rockets somewhere before, I thought they were evil and so I naturally refused."  
  
"Good choice," said Jacen. Thoughts of his sister wearing that ridiculously tight dress floated into his head, and he shook them out. Not a pretty thought.  
  
"Well that little creep threatened me again, and they disappeared in a puff of smoke when they heard you coming in. Do you know those people?"  
  
"Unfortunately..." Jacen replied, "The girl was... is my sister."  
  
"I'm so sorry!" Dosa cried.  
  
"AHEM!" Krystal interrupted, "Can I have my match now?"  
  
Dosa suddenly noticed Bram, "Hey! What are you doing here Mister? I thought you had places to go, and signatures to collect?"  
  
"Well," Bram smiled with his magical smile that drives the ladies crazy, "I just had to come back and see my favorite gym leader one last time."  
  
"PLEASE!!" Krystal cried.  
  
"Oh!" Dosa broke away from Bram's hypnotic stare and looked for the first time at Krystal, "Sure, it'd give me a break from all these bozos I've seen today. Follow me." She started towards the main pool.  
  
They all followed obediantly. A wartortle, that strangely resembled the statue, hopped onto the Lily-pad platform and it floated towards the center. After a collective "awe" from the visiting group, Buddy elected himself to battle and leaped to another platform across from the wartortle.  
  
"This is Sprinkles, my Wartortle! We'll use two pokémon each and the battle will stay within the area of the pool, marked by the water chutes," she pointed, "Alright?"  
  
Krystal nodded.  
  
"Then let the battle begin!" she cried as a buzzer sounded.  
  
Krystal twisted her hat around. "Buddy, use Razor Leaf to cut it down to size!!"  
  
"Sprinkles, Withdraw!" she called.  
  
Sprinkles ducked into its shell just before the attack hit, and the leaves bounced off of it. "Okay, Sprinkles, Headbutt!"  
  
The wartortle stuck out it's head and it speeded over the water towards Buddy, who flinched. Sprinkles struck hard and Buddy flew backwards and the platform followed him, moving under him just in time.  
  
"Buddy Look OUT!!" she started to reach out into the pool but Jacen grabbed her by the shirt before she fell in, "LET GO JACEN!!!! Or I'll have your brains for breakfast!"  
  
"Bram, a little help!" Jacen called. Bram grabbed her arms and together they pulled her slowly back.  
  
"Make that order with a side of BRAM!!!" she cried, "I gotta help BUDDY!" she cried, and, regaining her composure, added, "Hey, guys, I need to instruct him in his battling..." They released her, and she calmly walked back to her first position and continued in the battle.  
  
"Why again do you like her?" Bram asked Jacen.  
  
"Her explosive personality... I think...Sometimes I wonder..." he answered thoughtfully.  
  
Back at the battle, Buddy shook off the shock of not landing in the water and used his vine whips to smack Sprinkles on the ears. This futile move only served to infuriate it. It Water-gunned Buddy, stunning him further.  
  
"This is it," Dosa exclaimed. "Now use Surf and take him down!"  
  
"NOOOO!!!" Krystal screamed, "Buddy!!!!"  
  
Sprinkles turned the platform towards the column of water pouring from the crystal chute. The clever Wartortle surfed high up the spout,then used it to gather enough momentum to wham into Buddy with the force of a moving truck.  
  
Buddy flew through the air and luckily landed in Krystal's arms. He was badly injured and could barely stay awake. He looked up at her with defeat in his big friendly red eyes. "Bulba," he whispered.  
  
Tears welled up in Krystal's eyes. "You don't need to appologize to me Buddy. I know you did your best. You should rest now." She hugged him tightly.  
  
"Bulba," he smiled.  
  
"I love you too, Buddy. Go to sleep now."  
  
"Bulba," Buddy repeated as he closed his weary eyes.  
  
Krystal hugged him again, then turned to Jacen with tears running down her face. "Could you take Buddy to the Pokémon Center and see that...that he's well taken care of?"  
  
Jacen blinked. He had no idea that Krystal was that caring towards her Pokémon. He took Buddy gently out of her arms. "Will you be alright?" he asked quietly.  
  
Krystal sniffed and whiped her eyes. She took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "He's never lost before."  
  
"Sorry," said Jacen, for lack of something better to say.  
  
Krystal smiled, then turned away from him. After all, she still had a battle to finish.  
  
"Give up?" Dosa called.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you, but no. Krystal Ketchum dosen't give up." She reached for another Pokémon. Silently she sized up the situation. Baby hadn't let her down before, but she had a new friend to fight with. Starmie, Dosa's other pokémon, whom she read about on Dexter3000, was a Psychic type as well as a water type and Brooke would be good against it, but she had never used Brooke before and didn't know how she could do in battle. Finally she decided to just go with it and see what happened.  
  
"I choose you, Brooke!" she yelled, throwing Brook's Pokéball. The cute little purple puff popped out with a little cry of joy. Krystal pointed, "Hey Brooke, put that Wartortle to sleep!"  
  
Brooke hopped onto the platform. *SLEEPY!* she cried and did a little shimmy. Blue hypnosis waves verberated off of her. Sprinkles realized what she was attempting and tried to run away from the sleep waves. Unfortunately, it had already been affected by them. It slowed to a walk, then a crawl, then it flopped down.  
  
"No! Sprinkles, don't go to sleep! Come on, wake up!" Dosa shrieked.  
  
Sprinkles helplessly closed it's eyes. "Tortle..." Then it too was gone.  
  
Dosa wrinkled up her nose. "That's never happened before. Okay, that was the last straw. This means war, Krystal Ketchum. Not quite up to your FATHER'S standards, but I'm sure I can handle you." She knew that would infuriate Krystal. "Starla, I choose you!"  
  
The pool bubbled and from it's depths rose a rather beautiful Starmie. It's jewel sparkled with all the colors of the rainbow at once.  
  
"Body Slam!"  
  
Starla spun at Brooke and slammed into her with incredible force. She flew through the air with a telepathic cry that made Krystal flinch. Never before had any of her Pokémon sounded so...human.  
  
"Uh...Oh no! What kind of attacks can you do?" Krystal asked with panic starting to edge into her voice.  
  
Brooke landed face-first on her platform and staggered to her feet. *Uh, how about this, Krystal?* She shimmied again and psy-waves struck Starla. It lost its balance, toppled over, spun around on its jewel, and skidded off the platform. Everyone looked over the edge of the pool to watch it sink back into the depths.  
  
After a few long moments, Dosa clenched her fists, and gritted her teeth. "Alright, Ketchum, you win. Just let me go into my office to get your badge. I'll be right back." She stormed off.  
  
Krystal blinked. "I...I did it! I just wish Jacen coulda seen me!"  
  
"I did! Good job." Jacen said from behind her.  
  
She turned around in surprise. He grinned at her, happy for his friend. She jumped into his arms. "OH, Jacen, I'm sooo happy. I did it! Thank you for...WAIT A MINUTE! YOU'RE SUPPOSTA BE WITH MY BUDDY!" She jumped back and whacked him with her hat. "WHAT if he WAKES UP ALL ALONE!" She whacked him again, and once again for good measure, before returning it to its normal position.  
  
Dosa returned with the badge. She slapped on an extremely fake smile and said, "I, Dosa, present you with the Coralreefbadge! Congratulations!"  
  
"Yeah, great job!" Bram agreed.  
  
"Yeah, Krystal." Jacen said weakly and then flinched, expecting her to hit him again.  
  
"Thanks guys. You're a great help. Now, come on, let's go see how Buddy is."  
  
"Oh, and Krystal," Dosa started.  
  
She turned.  
  
"Nice battle," she smiled genuinely this time.   
  
"Thanks, Dosa. You were great too!"  
  
  
End of Chapter 5 


	6. Sprinkles!!!

Chapter 6: Sprinkles!!!!  
  
"I wanted the ones with the sprinkles!!!" Jannie whined, looking in a small sack of donuts, "You know I only eat the sprinkled ones! These are all glazed, YUCK!" she threw down the sack.  
  
Jared who was busy attaching something to the side of the gym, tried to ignore her, but she persisted.  
  
"JAR-AiR-AiR-RED!!!!" Jannie whined really loud, stamping her foot.  
  
"Jannie," he turned from his work, "SHUT UP!!! You're attracting attention! We don't want to get caught red-handed."  
  
"But our hands aren't red..."   
  
"Nevermind, just keep quiet."  
  
"But Jared..."  
  
"What now?"  
  
"What if we get blown up with the gym???"  
  
"Yeah, so..." he commented again returning to his work.  
  
"Well...I don't know about you, but 'I' don't want to be blown to bits!"  
  
Offhandedly Jared asked her, "Well, what do you want Jannie?" as he lit the fuse to the bomb  
  
"I tell you what I want... what I REALLY, REALLY want!" she paused, "I WANT SPRINKLES!"  
  
Just by pure coincidence, Dosa happened to be leaving the gym for lunch and overheard the word "SPRINKLES" and thought that they were referring to her wartortle and wanted to steal it. Infuriated at them, she leaped from out of nowhere, and let out a warcry, "LI-LI-LI-LI-LI-lililililiiiiiii!"  
  
"AHHHHH!" They freaked out and cowered on the ground.  
  
"You want Sprinkles...YOU want Sprinkles...YOU WANT SPRINKLES????..... Oh, yes, I'll give you Sprinkles," she said maliciously, "Sprinkles, give it to them!"  
  
Sprinkles, who had just finished napping, was refreshed and let out a huge blast of water in their direction, drenching them and the bomb fuse. (Thank goodness!)  
  
Satisfied, Dosa and Sprinkles walked to the Donut Shop to celebrate, leaving Neo Team Rocket soaking wet with defeat. Jared began to rant and rave, "I can't stand it here ANYMORE!! I'm getting out of here. You coming," he started off, with Sandy, who luckily dodged the water attack, following close behind.  
  
Jannie watched them, and then looked longingly at the Donut Shop, she literally weighed the two in her hands for a minute. Finally she threw her hands up in the air in frustration and ran to catch up to Jared and Sandy.  
  
  
END of Chapter 6 


	7. Is Buddy Okay?

Chapter 7: Is Buddy Okay?  
  
"Is Buddy Okay?" Krystal gasped as she threw herself onto the front desk of the Coral City Pokémon Center.  
  
"Calm down a second," Jacen urged his friend.  
  
"Please! Is he okay?? I need to know now!" she continued flinging herself onto the mercy of Nurse Joy who giggled at her behavior, and then regained her composure.  
  
"If you will take a seat, I'll go check," she smiled, looking Krystal over very carefully.  
  
"Oh, sure..." she slumped off the desk, and trudged towards a couch near the side of the front desk. Bram helped her over and they sat down. He put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry, Buddy will pull through." he assured her.  
  
"BRAM, GO AWAY!!!" she cried, putting her head in her hands and looking quite depressed.  
  
He gave Jacen a look and shook his head.  
  
A few minutes later, Nurse Joy returned, "Buddy is doing just fine now. Would you like to see him?"  
  
"WOULD I? YES!! Oh I could--"  
  
"That's alright," Nurse Joy replied holding up her hands, "Just follow me."  
  
Soon Krystal got to see Buddy. He was sitting on a small bed and looking somewhat better, but was fast asleep.   
  
"By the way," Nurse Joy said, "What's your name,"  
  
"Krystal, why?"  
  
"Krystal what?"  
  
"Ketchum, why?"  
  
"Oh! Are you related to Ash Ketchum, the great Pokémon Researcher?" she asked excitedly.  
  
"Yes," she said matter-of-factly, "He's my father."  
  
"I used to work at the Viridian City Pokémon Center and I got to work with him for a whole year!" she explained excitedly.  
  
"Really?" she said, wishing Nurse Joy would go away and leave her alone with Buddy.  
  
"Yes, he is such a nice man!" Nurse Joy commented. Krystal agreed silently. She added on, "Well, I leave you now!" and with that, she did.  
  
"Do you need us to leave too?" Jacen asked.  
  
"Yeah, if you could..."  
  
"It's no problem, I'd feel the same way," Bram replied. And then she was left alone with Buddy. She sat by him and watched vigilantly. He would be okay. It made her feel better, and it gave her a small burst of joy, which was just what she needed now.  
  
Jacen decided to head on back to the hotel and catch up on some needed sleep, with a load on his mind. Bram wondered where his next destination would be, and after debating on a few locations, decided to ask Dosa, and maybe 'bother' her for a while. Not that she minded, of course.  
  
  
END EPISODE 2  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


End file.
